Skip to main content

Sew Along: Making a Winter Coat

Image
By
I've always wanted to make a winter coat. I tried my hand at a blazer about 10 years ago, (I was about 16 at the time) but didn't like the way it turned out. That ended up in the trash.... I'm a little older now and have learned a lot more about sewing, so I'm ready to take it on! I will be using Simplicity #2311. I wanted to make a classic-style coat that is timeless and stylish. 

Simplicity #2311
For the fabric, I chose a Burberry-inspired plaid wool coating. Of course I had to choose something that will make this project just a little bit harder, but I'm really excited to learn how to match plaids! I had this fabric in my stash, although it is from Fabric Mart. We had it on our website last year. 


For the lining I will be using an Italian silk crepe de chine from our website (CWD4232 - Italian Crepe de Chine in Navy). I will be making the coat extra warm by interlining it with cotton flannel and will be using a weft-interfacing. 

CWD4232 - Italian Crepe de Chine in Navy 
Before I cut out any of the pattern pieces from the good fabric, I will be sewing up a muslin. I do not usually create a muslin because I'm too impatient. BUT I do not want to mess this up. I've already cut out the pattern pieces from my muslin and hope to start working on it over the weekend.

I've been doing a lot of research on this pattern. I really enjoy using Pattern Review to see what others have to say about the pattern. While researching on Pattern Review, I came across a blog that also featured her process in sewing this coat pattern -- Notes from a Mad Housewife. I immediately fell in love with Lisa's blog. She has a lot of insight on what steps to make to complete a beautiful winter coat. She just finished her version of the coat, check it out here. I got the idea to interline with cotton flannel and to use weft-interfacing from her blog also.

Any advice on how to match plaids? I've only done it on a small scale, so this is a HUGE jump for me!

~Julie

Comments

  1. lisa g.November 29, 2012 at 11:08 AM

    love the fabric, this will look really classy! and how apropos... i just did a plaid dress! it's not hard to match plaids, just takes a good deal of patience. i found it was easiest to pick a match point on the seams (either a notch or draw in your own reference point) to easily cross reference between pieces. check and double check! it takes longer to plot out, but it's time well spent.

    thanks for the shout out, i really look forward to seeing how your coat progresses!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Fabric MartDecember 4, 2012 at 9:48 PM

      thanks for the advice! I'm going to start cutting out the good pattern pieces later this week!

      Delete
  2. Jenny ArndtNovember 29, 2012 at 1:11 PM

    So excited to follow you, Julie! And thanks for pointing me to Lisa!! I don't have the time right now, but will look up what weft-interfacing is, why it's better, and where to get it!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. TrinityNovember 29, 2012 at 5:33 PM

    I made myself a coat last year, but this year I want to make one for my daughter. It's going to be in plaid, too, and I've haven't picked a pattern yet, but I'm going to start next month when the Pattern Review children's contest starts.

    ReplyDelete
  4. adamJanuary 12, 2013 at 12:11 PM

    B&J Fabrics stocks a unique selection of wool coating fabric.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment! All comments are reviewed before posting to help us eliminate spam. Your comment will be posted within 24 hours.

Popular Posts You Might Like

Made By A Fabricista: Why Sew A Muslin

By
Here it is, my September blog post featuring Newlook N6692 and this pretty rayon challis from Fabric Mart! This pattern style is so in right now. The square neckline, cute puff sleeves and the tiered skirt are all exactly what I was looking for in a summer dress. As always I started with making a muslin first!  Let’s get into why it’s important to start with a muslin.  A muslin is basically a practice garment. It prevents you from cutting into your good fabric prematurely.  I usually use a muslin fabric (natural cotton) but you should also consider using a fabric that is the same weight as your fashion fabric. This will give you a truer gauge of how the garment is going to lay in the final fabric. Anytime I try out a new pattern company I make a muslin. This was my first time using a Newlook pattern so I need to know what the ease would be like for this pattern. Also I need to see how the bust would fit me and where I would need to make adjustments. Plus there were some new techniques
2 comments
Continue Reading »

Made By A Fabricista: The Love of Sewing - Basic Pieces for a Beginner

By
Happy Friday All! It has been a while since I made myself a dress. I am excited to sew after not making anything since my last post (whew) and finally sharing some photos.  This past summer has been a roller coaster journey with plans to release a small collection and then deciding that right before the launch to postpone. Sewing has brought me joy over the past 8 years and the mere fact to sew daily for orders had me in a panic mode. I really don’t want to walk away from my craft due to burn out  and decided that if I do sew for others, it would be only for local clients. Moreover, If next year I decide to launch, it would be seasonal and not year round. I really want to share my talent and love for sewing with others but don’t want it to be a full time job and lose the passion in me.  After a bit of soul searching, teaching and sharing my talent with my community will always be my first love. For the past 2 summers, I was blessed to partner with two nonprofit organizations’ local sum
4 comments
Continue Reading »

Made By A Fabricista: End of Summer

By
Summer is nearing to an end but here where I am in Texas the heat isn’t letting up any time soon!  I still have plenty of time to get a few more summer looks out of the way.  In this blog I will be sharing two separate projects. The first project is this denim set; I had the inspiration saved on my list of makes to make.  For this project I got this gorgeous denim and matching thread to start my project. Yes, Fabric Mart will match the thread to your fabric perfectly and with my favorite thread brand Gutermann.  The denim had a very great weight and wasn’t too stiff.  It was very starchy when it arrived, so I did a prewash before working with it.  I’m so glad I did because it had a lot of dye saturated in which would not have been great for the skin and other clothes. For the first part of the set, I drafted a corset with the scallop edge cups, such a cute detail!   To start I used my bodice sloper to make the corset, I was not worried about the design details and focused more on
3 comments
Continue Reading »